Big News

It's coming. Just wait and see.

My Roots

I was born at King's Daughters Medical Center in Ashland, Ky., (Boyd County) on March 15, 1979. Here are a few pictures of Ashland from a little before my time.

The first was taken in March of 1936 by American Photographer Arthur Rothstein (1915-1985). Rothstein was known as a master of documentary photography in the 30's and 40's. This picture was described as "Part of the Ohio River in the Streets of Ashland, Ky."



The second picture was taken in August of 1942 and shows a scrap pile where iron was collected for national defense. In the photo, a small boy contributes something to the pile, probably a toy.



The last image was taken at the same time as the second and shows two boys who have gathered up iron scrap for the war effort being assisted by a scrap collector in moving the load in their coaster wagon.

Knight in Shining Armor

Rex Martin was in love with a girl named Caroline. They married in the late 60's and honeymooned in Europe, where they fell in love with the beautiful castles--particularly those that were German in style. Now Rex was a developer in Lexington, Ky., and he knew a thing or two about building. So he decided to design a castle for the love of his life. (Caroline later said she had wanted a house surrounded by 10-foot walls, and they just got a "little carried away.")

The Martins purchased about 60 acres near Keeneland, and construction began in 1969. Fast forward a few years, and inside the 12-foot walls, you've got a 10,400-square-foot, two-story home, complete with a huge library and swimming pool--as well as bedrooms, bathrooms and dining rooms galore. When finished, the structure would have 7 bedrooms, 15 bathrooms, an Italian fountain in the driveway and tennis courts.

But the project may have been a bit too much, because by this time, a divorce was in the works. So the couple split, the castle remained unfinished, and Rex moved to Florida, supposedly due to a broken heart. No one ever called the castle "home." Rex declined all interview requests, and even though he put the castle up for sale, he would not return any calls or allow anyone to tour the castle.

So there it sat. Rotting away.

Rex grew older, moved back to Lexington, and developed Alzheimer's. He died in a local nursing home in 2003 at the age of 72. His family didn't want the castle, so they sold it to a Miami lawyer named Thomas Post for $1.8 million. Tom starting renovating and repairing the castle and planned to live in it for a year and then turn it into a tourist home for overnight guests.

But just a year later, the home was destroyed in a fire. The cause? Arson.

Since then, Tom has been rebuilding, and local planners approved his idea to use the home for overnight guests and charitable events. The planners stipulated that no restaurant ever be operated on the property, and all parking areas should be screened from view by trees or shrubs since the land is zoned for agricultural use.

So in the end, Rex Martin did not have the fairy-tale ending he had hoped for (though he did eventually remarry), but now Lexington residents will finally be able to experience and enjoy a Kentucky landmark that has been almost 40 years in the making.







PHOTO CREDIT: #1. By Katie Hostetter. #5. By Charles Bertram.

Well, That's Interesting...

If you go to this Web site, you can put in a picture of yourself and see what you would look like as different races, etc. I couldn't get mine to save, but boy did I look interesting as East-Asian or as a man!

http://www.dcs.st-and.ac.uk/~morph/Transformer/index.html

A Little History Lesson

Kentucky has a secret. It's called Ale-8-One. What is Ale-8-One, you ask? Well, it's a soft drink that could be compared to Ginger Ale, but it has its own unique flavor. "Swamp water," my mom calls it. (She doesn't like the taste.) :-) She used to teach in Winchester, and all of the kids' dads worked for Ale-8-One. I'm sure she could have had free Ale-8-One whenever she wanted!

G.L. Wainscott developed Ale-8-One in the 1920's when he was experimenting with ginger-blended recipes. It has been bottled in Winchester, Ky., since 1926, and has been slowly spreading to other areas since then. Now, you can find Ale-8-One in Kentucky, Ohio and Indiana, though the further you get from Winchester, the harder it is to find--and the more it's fought over when you do find it.

Ale-8-One is Xon's favorite drink, so whenever we go to Lexington, we have to get several cases. And when my parents come down to visit, we secretly hope they will bring a stash of it with them. They always do. :-)

Where did the name "Ale-8-One" come from? Well, Wainscott sponsored one of America's first "name the product" contests, and "A Late One" was the winner. The drink's logo, "Ale-8-One" was adopted as a pun of its description as the latest thing in soft drinks.

In 1974, the company dropped the other soft drinks it was bottling and focused solely on Ale-8-One. Today, the business is still in the family. Wainscott's great-nephew, Frank A. Rogers III, owns and operates the facility, and he recently perfected the recipe for Diet Ale-8-One, which is sweetened with Splenda.

I have never taken a tour of the bottling plant, but I think that's the first thing I'll do next time I go. The company has its own Web site at http://www.ale-8-one.com/. You can purchase Ale-8-One online in bottles or cans (though cans just aren't as good) and have it shipped to you, if you're not fortunate enough to have it distributed in your state. You can also buy shirts, caps and keychains with the company's logo.

I don't know if Ale-8-One is as good as we think it is. Xon can taste different flavors in each bottle. Our friends don't see what the fuss is about. So maybe it is nostalgia that makes us open another bottle. Either way, it's a great Kentucky tradition that I'm proud to be a part of. And I'm glad I get to drink the latest stash from my parents all by myself. :-)

You're the Winner!

Xon rarely gets to eat lunch during his summer job. He usually only has 45 minutes in between classes, and parents always want to talk to him about their kids, so there's no time to go get something--and no refrigerator or microwave to fix something at the school. But yesterday, he managed to squeak out with enough time to head to Chick-fil-A. After he paid the cashier, he noticed that the cashier had called the manager over and they were whispering about something. Finally, they came back over to the window and said, "Congratulations! You're the 100th customer today! That means you get your meal free." Well, if you know Xon, you know he LOVES to eat. So this was great news. I asked him if he ordered more food since it was free, but he restrained himself. :-)

What a great surprise!

Recent e-mail between father and daughter

NOTE FROM DAUGHTER:
Hey, Dad! Just wanted to say thanks for all the work you did this week. I was definitely at my wit's end and didn't really care anymore. --But I learned a TON! Especially now that I have a house of my own, it made sense when you showed me how to do certain things because I could actually see the problem in my own house and then see you fix it. --If that makes sense. Anyway, I hope you don't have to work that hard in MN!!!!!! :-)

RESPONSE FROM FATHER:
It doesn't seem like hard work when it is for you! Take care and keep faith... Love, Dad

Awwwwwww.......

Quote of the Day

Can someone please explain my quote of the day? :-)

The Simple Life

So this morning I dropped off my car at Bass-Mims so they can fix the air conditioning. I grew up without AC, so it doesn't bother me too much when it's not working. I often wait until mid-June to turn it on in the house unless we have visitors. If I didn't live with Xon, I'd probably wait a little longer, but that's about all he can take. :-) He grew up with the thermostat set at 60 degrees year-round, so now he wilts anytime it's 70 degrees or above.

When Mark at Bass-Mims was checking the car earlier in the week, he said he grew up without air conditioning, too, so now he never uses it--even though his car's AC works just fine.

So I'm wondering if it's good to raise kids without AC. So when they have it, they are grateful, but when they don't, they are content. How would that work in practice? Or does it really matter one way or the other?

A Coke and a Ciggy

"Grandmother stuck in bathtub for five days"

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/7546770/

No Man is an Island

I read this article on www.msn.com this morning.

"Friends improve longevity better than family"

http://g.msn.com/0MN2ET7/2?http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8227752&&CM=EmailThis&CE=1

9-5 Blues

I read this short article today and thought it was interesting--as I'm sure we all consider quitting our jobs every now and then. Yes, it was on Oprah.com. Today was very slow!

http://www2.oprah.com/omagazine/200111/omag_200111_workspirit.jhtml

WORKING SPIRIT
So Long, Farewell, Auf Wiedersehen, Goodbye
By Ronna Lichtenberg

It's easy to know when you're in the right job, and it's a piece of cake to recognize an awful one. But what about the position that seems only okay? How can you tell the difference between a bad day and a bad fit—especially in a shaky economy when the voices of reason all suggest that having a job, any job, is a good thing? In my many years in management and consulting, I've noted six signs that it's time to move on.

1. No money would ever be enough.
2. Nothing you do makes the least bit of difference.
3. You're not learning anything.
4. No one ever talks to you about the future in a positive way.
5. You hate your boss.
6. Who you are at work doesn't relate to the rest of your life.

Ronna Lichtenberg's most recent book is It's Not Business, It's Personal (Hyperion). She's at work on a new book about career success.